Fire-alarm system.



Y PATENTED MAR. 24, 1908. H.-H. HILLIER.

PIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 13, 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Wr .4/ if Uli .0 C0, f@ mmmmmmmmmm. y mmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmnmm PATENTBD MAB. 24, 1908. H. H. HILLIER.

FIRE ALARM SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APRJS, 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEETS.

No. 882,758.- y PATENTED MR. 24, 1908. H. H. HILLIER.

rFIRE ALARM SYSTEM. APPLIUATION FILED um 1s, 1901.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

PATENT-ED MAR. Z4, 1908.

f No. 882,758.

H. H. HILLIER.

PIRE ALARM SYSTEM.-

APPLIGATION FILED A/PBJS, 1907.

l @gg UNITED STATES PATENT oEEioE.

HENRY H.. HILLIER, F Die SADENA, QLIFORNIA.

FIRE- ALARM SYSTEM.

Specication of Letterslatent.

ratented'march 24, 190s.

Application iledApril 13. 190i?. Serial No. 368,111.

4To all whom it may concern:

Bre it known that 1I, HENRY H HILLIER, axeitif'zenof the United States, .residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and -iltate'of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Fire-Alarm Systems, of whichthe following is a s eciication.

' My invention relatesto a e alarm system which is lespecially ada ted to be used in '10. `Y`been previously installed.

small towns where a te ephone system has Heretofere it has been the practice to in- #stall 'special .'re alarm] boxes at different places on the streets, but the inconvenience 15-V of using these jboXesh-as been so great that .the telelilhone system, incase there should as'been used almost to the entire exclusion of the alarm boxes;

It is/one of the 'objects of my invention to provide 'a system to be usedin conunc'tion 'vvvth a telephone system which-wil enable operatorfat the central telephone station orcentralfiire` station to notify .the'iire stafaoout excessive complicationsof apparatus.

Fvide a sfyrstem by means of which theljo'ca tion 'or station-s of'anyiire of whichsaid o er- `iat-or is made 'aware and of the exact .loca ity .It -isalso an object of my invention to roity f the',

Stations within verynarrow limits and with- 'f'1. A further Iobj ect of my invention is. to proian apparatus which may be installed in .system at a very j to the voutlay a ready provided with a 4telephone nominal expense compared necessaryfor a boxiire alarm;

' system. Y

further object of inv/entidn is to pro--l vide a system which will immediately give an alarm which is distinguishable from the fire larms upon any accident to the system. itse -A further object is to provide a signaling device-which will repeat the alarm signal as many times as is desired.

- A further Objectis to provide a signaling device which is simple in operation,.thus providing against .any mistakes on the part of the operator.

I accomplish these objects by means ofthe system described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in whichz-Figure 1- 1s a dlagrammatic view of my complete i system as it is-installed in conjunction with .an existing telephone s stem. Fig. 2- is a v1ew,gparts being broken away forpuremayi be made'- known at the fire and thereby poses of illustration, of the'sig'naling device.` ig. 3- is a ragmentar detail of a ortion .of the top of the signa ing device sowing the indicator plate thereon. Fig. 4-v 1s a vertical longitudinal section of. the-signaling devicel takenl on line 4-4 of Fig. .2. v-Fig.

' 5- is a vertical cross section of the signaling -the arrangement for an open circuit system.

p Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, 23 designates a central station, such as a'telephone central station,

which is conveniently communicated with by the general public. Located in central station 23 is a signaling device 24 `connected by line wires 25 and 25 to gong 26 in iire station 27... Signaling device 24 1s also connected to annunciator 28 in the fire station 27. By means of thissystem any fire alarm' which is communicated 'to the central station 23 by means of a telephone system, 'or

1n, any -other manner, may betransmittedjfromfthe central telephone station to the fire station by, means of signaling. device 24 which will cause gong 2 6 in the fire station 27 to'ring' any predetermined number oftimes lnotify thelire station of any iire and its oeality. v.Annunciator 28 is 'also ada ted to show' by a numeral the exact loca ity, so that-in case the gong or its line Wires shouldl become disabled the annunciator would still ,notify the station. The v lcircuit throu h gong 26 and line Wires 25 and 25. is prefera ly normally closed, sothat the current from battery 259 is normally flowing around saidv circuit and through signali'n de# opened. Annunciator 28 is connected to slgnaling device 24- by acable 3 0 and branch wlre 31, so that the circuitthr'ou'gh the annunclator 1s normally open and signalmg de'-A vice 24-operates to close said circuit and thereby `to operate ann`ufnciato1 .l 28.

vice 24. as will' be hereinaft'erdescri ed. Signaling device 24 operates toopen the gong circuit 'and the gongis soaconstruct-ed .that it vWill'ring 'every-time ,tne circuit is I willnow proceed With a detailed description of the signaling device.

Section 48 is provided with an indicator `plate 45 which has notches 46 in its edge pro' 104 ,iecting toward slot 44. These notc es 46 are numbered .to correspond with the numbers of the different numbered localities of the town in which the system is installed.

Mounted in bearings-47 secured to the base of case 40 is a shaft 48. Shaft 48 is rovidedy with a worm gear 49, through the medium of which it is driven by a-spring motor which will be hereinafter described, and with a series of alternating disks of insulating material and metal 50 and 51. These disks are arranged one after the other on shaft 48 and are held between flanges 52 and 53 rigidly upon said shaft. Longitudinal bolts 54 (see Fig. 6) are also provided to clamp the disks together and thus to hold them rigidly on the. shaft. Disks 51 (see Fig. 6) are provided with a plurality of notches in their pelso ripheries which run belowthe surface ofthe adjacent'insulating disks 50 and'which are arranged in such manner as to correspond to some designated number. Each disk 51 is mounted directly beneath one of the notches 46 in indicator plate 45 on the top of the signaling device and is notched to correspond with` the number- `connectedwith that particular notch 46. i y

Mounted on a shaft 55 above and to one side of shaft 48, is a lever 56 which projects through slot 44 in cover 41 and is provided on its upper end with a handle 57 by means of which lts shank 58 ma be pulled into any yone of notches 46 in indicator plate 45,

spiral spring 59 being adapted to move lever 56 in the opposite direction and out of notch 46. Lever 56 is rovided on its lower end -with'a slot 60 which is adapted to receive a sipring plate 61 extending horizontally over sks 50 and 51 to the side wall of case 40. Spring plate 61 is provided on its under side .with a wedge-shaped contact 62 which is ada ted to be pressed against disks 50 and 51 y the actionof the spring plate. The outer end of spring plate 61 is adapted to rest onany one of` a series of contacts 63 .secured to the side wall of the case and to which are connected the individual wires 64 of annunciator cable 30. Lever 56 is slid- `ably mounted on shaft 55 by means of key 65 and lon itudinal key-way 66in the shaft.

Mounte on'the end of shaft 48 is a-composite disk-67 provided with a notch 68 (see ig. 5) in its periphery. On the end of shaft 55 and directly opposite disk 67 is rigidly mounted a bell crank lever 69 whose vertical arm 70 is provided with -a lug 71 vbeing stopped.

adapted to' enter notch 68 in disk v67. Horithe s ring motor used to drive shaft 48 and there y stop the motor as will be hereinafter described. Spiral 'spring 59 operates to ress lug 71 into notch 68 so that whenever ug. 71 1s removed from notch 68 by the movement of lever 56 into 'one of the notches in the indicator late, shaft 48 will be permitted to .make but one revolution, lug 71 being forced into notch 68 by the action of spiral spring59 and the rotation vof the shaft The motor is also stopped at the same time by the action of brake shoel 1 74, so thatany strain on the mechanism is obviated. l

' Disk 67 is provided with an insulating facing 75 through which a stud 7 6y attached to disk 67 projects. A springcontact 77 bears against disk 67 and a second spring contact7 8 bears against insulating facing 75 in such a position as to contact with stud 76 whenever that stud comes to a position opposite the spring contact, and Ithereby to close the electrical connection between contacts 77 and 78. Stud 76 is so. placed on disk 67 that it contacts with spring contact 78 when the device is in its .normal position,

l or when lug 71 is in notch 68.

Spring contact 78 is connected by wire 79 to' binding post 80 on the outside of case 40. Spring contact 77 is connected by wire 81 to blndin post 82 on the outside of case 40'. These inding posts 80 and 82 are connected to line wires 25 and 25 with battery 29 in the circuit, so that the circuit is normally closed through battery 29, line wire 25',

gong 26, line wire ,25, binding post 80, wire 79, spring contact 78, stud 7 6,'spring contact 77, wire 81, binding post 82, back to battery 29. When shaft 48 starts on its revolution, stud 76 revolves away from spring contact 78, thereby breaking the above circuit. But it is obvious that in order to let shaft v46 revolve, lug 71 must be pulled out of notch 68 and this necessitates lever 56 being pulled to the left in Figs. 5 and 6 which can only be done by pulling said lever into one of the notches 46 in indicator plate 45. In order to pull lever 56 into one of these notches, lever 56 must be moved into position directly above one of the disks 51, so that contact 62 is bearing on that particular disk. ALever 56 is vconnected by a wire 90 (see Figs. 2 and 6) i not limit myself tothat particularclass of.

moments.rilyenc-the insulating disks 50'A on -either sidevof disks 51, contact 62 'being made wider than .thev'thickness of a disk 51 as is .shown in Fig. '4. lIlpon `the passing of that iparticularinotch .in theI periphery of the disk, lcontact V6-2 willgagain contact with disk 51 .and close the circuit .until asubsequent' :notc'hlin .the .peri liery of disk 51 passes thel contact 'when the circuit-."will again -be opened. The'notches in the lperipheries of -zdisks `51 are arranged, so that by their suc, -cessive l'passage ofcontact 62.and their consequent .openmgvof lthe gon circuit `they -will fring `the. gong a' -fnumber o times in such a with ithe 'corresponding' annunciator contact -63 .and will closethe electric fcircuit fromv Abattery 29 through binding post 82, wire 100, contaotlOl, contact .63, 4 cable 30, annuncia-l l-tor .28, branch wire 31, line wire back to battery 29and th-usoperate-the annuciat-or inthe usualsmanner to show the number corl Aresponding` to .the number. .on the'indicator plate lagainst which lever .56 isplaced.

. I preferably employ .a spring motor to drive the signaling device which is more -particularly shown in `Figs. 7 and 8, but I do 4motive ower. It is .provided -With a fiat helical spring 1 10 having ratchet winding mechanism', Quot shown, and mountedon a shaftv 111 Whichtis provided with .a large .gear wheel 11-2.v Gear wheel 112' meshes with pinion`1'1-3 on shaft, 1:14fwhichextends. out- .wardlyfi'rom .the spring motor across case. 40fof Athe signaling device and has mounted on it directly l above shaft 48 a Worm -Wheel lladapt'ed-'tomesh lwith Wormlwheel 49 on shaft 48.y 'By means-oi these devices shaft 48 .isdrivien by spring 11.0. Gear 1.12 also I =mesheswith inion -116 on shaft 117 which is lprovided'-vvit a large. gear 118.` Large gear 118 meshes with alpin-ion' 119. on shaft 120 which carries onlits 'outervend gearwheel 121 and brake Wheel 12.2. vBrakeshoe 74 here- .lnbefore 'mentioned is adapted to contactwith brake wheel 122 andfto thereby stop the operation .of the motor. -Gear wheel 1121 .meshes-withpinion 123 on a shaft 124which carries-fa ball governor -125. of the friction '-1 type. which is icommon, yin tlie )motors-of gestaltung Regulating screw- 126.

vparticular order as to `notify the `lire-station is provided for regulating the speed .of `the i motor and a squared shaft v127 1s also'provided to facilitate the winding of spring 110.

The speed at which the motor mav be run will Adepend upon the rapidity at vwhich the .signaling ,circuit may be worked and also upon the distance between successive notches In any `event shaft in the contact disks 51. 48 .will .beirotated very slowly.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a detail view of..y `a type of ong which may be used in lmy system, wit out limiting myself to this particular type. An electro-magnet 140 is mounted on the base 141 of thegong directly in front of armature 14,2 secured to double ,pawl 143. Pawl 143'works in the .teeth of ratchet 144 mounted on shaftv 145, .which shaft is'drivenfvby helical spring 146. Mounted on this shaft 145 is 'also a'ratohet wheel 147 whose teeth are adapted to engage a lug 14S-on a spring pressed arm 149. Arm -149 'carries hammer 150 in such a position that .it -Willstrike gong 151, shown in .dotted lines, -wheuever .ratchet wheel 147 rotates4 underneath lug 148. When the circuit 'from'.b'attery, 29 is either openedor'closed through the gong, electrofmagnet 140.is de-v provided with projections 161 which cori respond to 4'the notches in disks 51 and con.

tact 62 is adapted to close the circuit through 4battery 29 and lan ordinary open circuited gong 162 Whenever one of these projections 161 come into contact with it. vThe pe riphery of .disk between the projections vis lower than the periphery of the adjacent insulating .disks 50 lso that. contant 62 will normally rest on the peripheries of the in- Sulatingvdisfs. Connected in series withthe open circuit bell is also an open circuit relay .16S-which is adapted to open local circuit 164.through a closed circuit gong 165 and local battery 166\when the main circuit is closed. l open alarm circuit and a closed alarm circuit maybe worked together.

It will be noted hat I have produced .a

system which is yvery simple-in its cons truc-4 tion 'and operation and which' may be installedvin a town of moderate size for very little cost where the outlay-fora box fire alarm system would be very heavy. It will .los

By means of this arrangement 'an l,

4125 `also be observed that I have provided a a system which, mainly on Vaccount of its simplicity, is very free-from-anyaccldent or disorders, and,` "that should any occur, .an alarm of :one stroke will immedlately be .It Will also be noted that I have system which may be'used to notify asinglel firestation or any numberof fire stations,l

sounded, as the signaling circuit is normallyl closed and'any accident Will open the circuit.l produced a as any number of gongs and `aannunciato'rs ma be connected 1n the slgnahng clrcuits an be o erated by one slgnalmgA device which is ocated preferably at the4 central telephone station. This location, however; is not necessary as the signaling device may ybe located at any place, such as the central y re station, which has telephonie communivice comprising a case; a shaft rotatlvely.

mounted in said case; a spaced serles of metallic disks rigidi mounted on said shaft 4having notches in t eir peripheries; a seriesy of insulating disks mounted between said metallic disks and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the bottomof said notches in the metallic disks and less than the diameter of the metallic disks;`a contact adapted to follow the contour of the metallic disks and rest on said insulating disks When it is in the notches of the metallic disks; and means to rotate said shaft and disks.

2. A signaling device comprisin a case; a shaft rotatively mounted in sai case; an indicator plate on the top of said case having designations thereon; a plurality of disks on said shaft, there being a disk located directly beneath each designation on said indicator plate, and leach of said disks being provided With notches in its periphery to correspond With the designation directly above said disk; Va contact adapted to engage With the periphery of any one of said disks; means to rotate said disk; and means to automatically release said rotating means When said contact is brought into a position to contact with any of said disks.

- 3. In a signaling device, a plurality of rotative disks; a contact adapted to engage with any of said disks; means to rotate said disks; and means to lock said disks from rotation; and means to automatically re# lease said disks when said contact is placed in engagement With one of said disks.

4. n a -signaling device, a plurality of rotative disks; a contact adapted to engage With any of said disks; means to rotate said disks; means to lock said disks from' rotation; means to automatically release said disks when said contact is placed in engagement with one of said disks; and means to lock said disks from rotation after one revolution thereof. i

5. In a closed circuitsignaling device,- a

samba act a apted to engage with v said disks" means to lock said .disks from rotation until said contact is placed in engagement withY said disks;.an external'signaling circuit of Which said disks and said contact form' the terminals; and means to hold .said-circuit' closed around ls aid contact and disks While said disks are locked from rotation. i

6. In a signali device, .a case; a shaft rotativelymounte in said case; means to rotate sald shaft; a plurality of notched contact disks rigidly spaced on said shaft; insulating disks between said notched disks, the diameter of said insulating disks being less than the diameter of said notched disks and greater than the diameter ofthe bottom of' sald notches; a spring pressed contact of greater Width than said notchedl disks and adapted t'o'enga e with said disks, said contact and disks a apted to form the terminals of an electric circuit; a second shaft rotatively mounted adjacent and parallel to said first named shaft and on Which said spring contact is slidably and non-rotatively mounted; a spring secured to said last named shaft tached tol said contact and adapted to bef placed in any one of the-notches in said plate; a notchedlocking disk on said firstI named shaft; an arm rigidly mounted on said second named shaft provided with a lug adapted to enter the notch in said locking disk and lock said first named shaft from rotation, said lug adapted to be removed from said notch When the arm on said contact is placed in one of the notches in said plate; a contact pin in said locking disk; and a contact mounted in said case adapted to en age v'said pin when said disk is in its locked being connected in parallel with said notched disks and said first named contact.

7. A signalin device comprising a case; a shaft journale plate on the top tions and notc each other; a plurality of disks on said shaft,` there being a disk located directl beneath each desi nation and notch on sai indicator plate, an each ofsaid disks being provided With notches in its periphery to correspond With the desi nation directly above; a spring operated sha t mounted in said case; an arm mounted on said shaft and adapted to'be moved longitudinally thereon to engage with any of the notches in said late a contact mounted on said arm and a apted to engage with any of said disks; stationary contacts mounted in said case; a second contact mounted on said arm and adapted to engage With said stationary contacts; .means to rotate said disk; means to lock saiddisk ofsaid case having designaposition, said contact pin and contact in said case; an indicator y from rotation, said means adapted to be dis- In Witness that 4I claim the foregoing I engaged upon the 'insertion of'said arm in have herennto'subscribed my name this 30th 'any one of said notches; a circuit leading dayof March, 1907. through said first named contact onsaid arm HENRY H. HILLIERV. 5 and said disk; and means to yclose said cir. Witnesses:

cuit around said disk While said disks are V -EQWARD B. HIL'LIER, looked from rotation.. JEssEAD. HILLIER. 

